Paul and Victor investigate an object near Alpha…

Marc Platt writes the first story for this new set of tales for the rebooted Moonbase Alpha crew with a focus on Paul Morrow and Victor Bergman. The former was distinguished in the original by… er… being played by Prentis Hancock – yes, we did learn a few more things about him across season 1 (like many others, he vanished between seasons) but not an awful lot. Platt’s story explains why Morrow was on Alpha in this timeline and why he would have good reason not to want to be there, and counterpoints it with the relationship that Morrow has established in the year since the Moon left Earth orbit. The story is put together well, and the cast give it their all – notably in the last couple of scenes – although I have some reservations about the final reveals… which may, of course, become relevant to the next story, given the serial nature of this incarnation.

You can’t help but sympathise with Commissioner Simmons when he wonders why so many of Alpha’s senior people have gone on the investigation, but his focus should probably be on dealing with dwindling supplies – something we are told about a lot in the early part of this episode. It’s an element of this sort of series that can get overlooked (Stargate Universe being a rare example of it being front and centre).

Iain Meadows’ sound design does a very good job of providing the necessary disorientation and while it’s not something that I would normally comment on, there does seem to be rather too much of Joe Kraemer‘s music score, much as I enjoy it. I know that the Barry Gray school of composition means a repetition of certain phrases and motifs but it just feels over the top on this occasion and sometimes used when the drama of the scene doesn’t require it.

Verdict: As ever, Marc Platt blends the genre and dramatic demands well, but I’m not convinced we needed as much time on the backstory of one of the supporting characters. 7/10

Paul Simpson

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